Chapter 160: Slaughter, Despair, Annihilation!
The sudden turn of events caused everyone present to halt their actions.
Not only had Alise's Astraea Familia never seen such an 'anomaly,' but even the members of the Rudra Familia, who caused it all, were stunned.
Accompanied by a huge jet sound, a wide, long, and deep crack extended from the crumbling wall nearby.
From within the crack, a purple liquid and extremely hot white vapor continuously sprayed out.
Unlike the usual cracks that spawn monsters in the dungeon, this massive crack seemed as if the dungeon itself had manually torn open its body.
Something ominous was stirring deep within the crack, as Ryuu keenly caught the flicker of bright red eyes in the depths.
But in the next instant, the gaze disappeared.
Instead, there was a slashing line.
"...Eh?"
No one could keep up with 'its' speed, and even the person who was slashed by 'it' hadn't reacted before their life came to an end.
With a splatter, a deep purple claw mercilessly flashed by, cutting a member of Astraea Familia into several pieces.
The girl's head and torso, flying in the air, sprayed blood before falling to the ground along with the severed lower half.
The sound of the girl's body being sliced was intertwined with the sound of blood being sprayed.
It was as if announcing the official beginning of an unfortunate tragedy.
"N-Noin?!... Gah?"
Splatter!
The second one.
The upper body of an animal-eared girl calling out the name of her deceased companion flew off.
It was still the giant claw shining with deep purple light that did it.
Bang!
Splatter!
The third one.
A dwarf girl hastily raised her shield, but both she and the shield were crushed into pieces by the massive body falling from the sky.
In just an instant, Astraea Familia, one of the top five powerful Familias in Orario, had three of their members dead!
Drip!
Warm liquid slid down Ryuu's cheek, eventually falling to the ground with a slight sound.
The blood that should have been coursing through her companion's body sprayed onto her face, forcing Ryuu to confront the grim reality unfolding before her eyes.
At the same time, she realized the fact that 'they will never come back.'
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
Driven by rage, the blond elf went berserk and charged at the 'monster' without any hesitation.
"No! Lion, come back!!!"
Alise's shouts from behind could not pull back Ryuu's rationality.
The ominous 'claw,' gleaming with the blood of her companions walking on the path of justice, shimmered with a crimson light, and its slender yet giant body resembled 'an armored dinosaur fossil.'
Ryuu launched an all-out charge at the monster, the apostle of destruction sent by the dungeon to bury the intruders.
"?! "
Then, the elf girl's all-out strike futilely cut through the air.
Twisting its joints, shattering the floor, and leaping into the air, the giant monster began to move with agility completely inconsistent with its size.
Continuous leaps, those were high-speed movements so fast that even Ryuu, adept at high-speed combat, had no time to react.
She had only seen such speed in one other person.
But this monster... was several times faster than the figure in her memory!
As the giant claw swept by, countless diagonal lines crossed through space, and the adventurers, too frightened to even see clearly, froze in their place, daring not to move.
Witnessing the 'ultra-high-speed movement' impossible for a large monster to possess, Ryuu's heart gradually sank into a cold state.
The monster, which had shaken off its prey's mental state, easily got around to Ryuu's back.
"!!!"
The anger was replaced by fear, and the sliced remains of her companion's body told her that the 'claw' must not be taken lightly.
In a life-and-death situation, Ryuu, desperately mobilizing her body, successfully dodged the incoming glowing giant claw.
But then, she was hit by a fierce impact.
Bang!
"Grrrrr?!"
The monster smashed out its tail like a third arm at the elf girl who used all her strength to avoid its fatal strike.
The monster's thick tail, like a club, heavily struck Ryuu's body.
This blow even cracked all her bones.
Boom!
Ryuu, thrown into a pile of rubble, bled continuously from her mouth.
And a sense of inescapable defeat emerged in her heart.
However, the monster had no intention of sparing its prey.
A light flashed, and the giant monster appeared in front of the immobile elf girl again, its giant claw representing death mercilessly swinging down.
"You idiot!"
Splatter!
Kaguya saved Ryuu at the cost of an arm.
The Far East girl's right arm flew into the air, and her blood spraying on Ryuu's astonished face.
Then, the impact of the monster's giant claw smashing the ground blew them both away.
"I've been waiting for this moment!"
"Die, monster!"
The team of Astraea Familia was severely damaged in an instant: three companions dead, Ryuu seriously injured, and Vice Captain Kaguya losing an arm.
Yet, despite this, the girls of Astraea Familia did not give up.
Instead, they were fueled by the flames of revenge.
Two mages quickly chanted spells, and the moment Kaguya and Ryuu broke away from the monster, they bombarded it with magic.
But alas, this was all still a part of the 'tragedy.'
Boom, boom, boom!
The reflected magic attack directly blasted away the girls of Astraea Familia.
The two mages also turned to ashes in the flames of magic.
'Magic Reflection'
It's a 'shield' capable of reflecting all magic.
The giant claws that buried many top adventurers in a single strike, the armor shell that reflected all magic, and the unreasonable ultra-high-speed movement.
In front of this monster, that exists solely to 'obliterate,'
The girls of Astraea Familia finally faced the bitter taste of defeat!
...
There was no hope for victory.
Under the monster's unparalleled mobility, the girls of Astraea Familia couldn't even engage in close combat.
And their usually invincible magic had no effect on this monster.
The monster that brought destruction, with its super high agility, could even force a top-tier adventurer team into annihilation.
It was truly a 'symbol of death.'
To defeat it, one must be capable of avoiding the lethal 'first strike.'
After surviving the first attack, one needed armor capable of defending against the attack of the monster's giant claws to barely contend against it.
Unfortunately, in this battle, no adventurer met this condition.
Thus, what awaited the girls of Astraea Familia...
Was only despair!
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